Trust and Tribulations
by Grushdeva
Summary: A capsuleer has it all. Immortality, wealth beyond measure and power rivaling nations. But what happens when one is forced to protect a mere mortal?
1. Prologue

**Diclaimer**: EVE Online is owned by CCP and i claim ownership of nothing except the storyline.

**Prologue**

The Gallente station was pleasant enough on the eye. Lots of light green and blue colors and swooping lines making the station seem more like the metal had grown into place rather than formed by human hands. Lots if indirect lighting and subtle music playing in the background, barely audible over the bustle of the crowds. Its main corridor ran the length of the station from the main docking and trading port straight across the spine of the station to the cheaper working and living quarters of the more common station inhabitants and maintenance crews. They could be seen outside as large "hoops" that rotated the central spine. Forgoing the usual, but expensive, graviton plating for the cheaper solution of creating gravity by rotation. The corridor itself was massive, stretching upwards for several dozen decks and at least three hundred meters wide. Then again it needed to be this large as thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people moved along this corridor daily. All along the sides you could see more people shuffling along the many balconies and outcropping terraces. There was even an artificial sky to make the whole thing seem more natural, as if willing people to forget they were actually on a space station. Most people just went along their business, some were traders there just for a deal or to pick up a transport, but most lived on the station. The maintenance and security personnel on and off duty, the scientists and support staff working for the Federation Navy. The Navy owned this station and many more like and unlike it throughout Gallente space. It was busy, but still everything moved relatively smooth. The background music that hummed through the station seemed to complement the sound of the bustling crowds. Organized chaos, definitely a Gallente station.

Amidst the moving crowds one Amarrian walked at a quick pace, knowing exactly where he was heading. He seemed in his early thirties, dressed sharply in a black suit set off with silver patterns, short black hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His oddly blue eyes seemed to not be seeing the station at all. But he cut through the crowds with ease, his pace never faltering and never slowing. The people seemed to just move out of the way under his gaze. Something told them not to cross him, that something was off.

"_How __right__ they __are_."

The Amarrian thought as he moved along. He had not felt truly human for quite a long time. He was a capsuleer, an immortal. He had died countless times during his life, only to have his pod "flash" his brain nanoseconds before actual death. In an instant all who he was, was digitized and sent over dozens of light years to a station he had specified. Have the data downloaded through numerous implants into a freshly cloned body just waiting for him. To him, he simply woke up in a medical clinic, showered and moved on. Business as usual. Even in a station walking around like a normal person he could not truly die. His implants already made it very hard to truly kill a him at all and even if you did manage it the flash device had been improved after its first true use in the capsuleer pods. The enormous wealth the capsuleers had gathered they had put to good use. With nearly unlimited funding being poured into it a portable flash device had been made for use by capsuleers. When used in combination with the standard capsuleer implants it gave the same functionality as its pod bound cousin, just at a substantially higher price. But for all his wealth, implants and immortality, in many ways he was still only a man. A man with an appointment to keep and, as he recalled the faces of two men from his memory implant, a man who was being followed.

He had expected it, every pod pilot that left the capsuleer only decks on a station was followed. Concord kept a close eye on capsuleers in empire space as best they could. He had no room for visitors on this appointment though. He quickly took a sharp right and headed for a service tunnel while he linked into the station network with his neural implant. Every capsuleer came standard equipped with an AI to help make sense of the data flood in a ship link. But out of pod it could be used for quite a few other things. He linked with his AI through the network and confirmed Aura was still running the standard Concord electronic surveillance in a circle. Odd, that meant this wasn't Concord. He linked into the local security camera footage, having his neural implant cross reference all the faces his ocular implant made out in the crowd with the image of the two, it was child splay to pick them out of the crowd. He quickly analyzed there movements after he had changed direction and noted another one moving in an inverted triangle around him. One on the right, one on the left and one behind him. A tight formation that they kept to rigidly. Definitely not thugs. He noted side arms and stun rods amongst their clothes, but no rifles or any other heavy firepower. He cross referenced their faces with the station database and soon found there ID's. All men were registered with the Gallente Navy, no ranks or current designation though. Which meant false ID's. False ID's linked to the Navy meant black ops.

"_How__ unsubtle.__"_

This was a standard surveillance crew, not meant for direct conflict. He logged himself out of the system as he reached the service tunnel. His implants broke through the lock encryption in less than a second and he kept on walking as the door opened and closed behind him. Inwardly he smiled, paying for good implants paid off. He took another right and called down an elevator, selecting a random floor the elevator shot off and soon left that floor behind.

Several seconds later the surveillance crew showed up at the same elevators. Using Navy override codes they quickly figured out which floor the elevator was heading and soon followed suit. As their elevator closed and shot of in pursuit of his one, he stepped out of the shadowy corner he had been standing in. For the first time today he showed some outward expression as he uncharacteristically chuckled.

"_That __trick__ never __fails_."

He thought, as he started backtracking to the last juncture. He was nearing his destination now and chose to stick to the service tunnel for the last stretch. After another five hundred meters the service tunnel ended and opened up to a quiet side passage off the main corridor. He took a right and soon saw his destination appear to the left of him. A simple quiet restaurant. It was set up with an old style, with actual wooden furniture. Mixing Amarr colors, with gold and silver lining complementing the wood and brown, but keeping the flowing natural look from Gallente design. Checking his internal chronometer he found that he was exactly on time and entered the restaurant. As the doors hissed open he headed for a table in the corner already taken by a relatively short blue haired lady. She smiled as she turned to face him and took a sip of her tea. "Cyber, good to see you again." Cyber gave her a small smile as he sat down.

"Always a pleasure Lena. I got here as soon as I got your message."

Her face turned serious at that. "Yeah, thanks for that." She looked up at him meeting his eyes. "I have a problem and a favor to ask."

That got Cyber's attention. Lena was one of the few people in his life he considered friends. They had been doing business for years. She was quite the optimist, but with good reason. She and her sisters were all capsuleers and set up a successful business running logistics, production and research for all manner of items, modules and ships. They were quick, always got what he needed and as far as he could remember had never once said something was impossible to get. His first thought was that something had gone wrong with a transport.

"Does this… issue have anything to do with our normal business?" Cyber asked.

She looked a bit taken aback by the question. Giving him a look as if saying, like i would ever have a problem with that. "Of course not, replacement parts, ammo and the normal ships and load outs have already been delivered to the normal drop offs as well as the requested boosters. Though I must admit the specialty ship you requested took some time to get, people generally don't like to let go of something like that."

"I knew you could handle it. ISK transfer is automated upon delivery as always. So what's the problem then?" If it wasn't business then it was personal and he knew Lena didn't like having to ask other people for help, even him. If it was personal that went doubly so, which meant this was big enough and very important to her. He watched her wring her hands together staying silent for a bit as she arranged her thoughts.

Trust was far and few between in the world of capsuleers, Cyber knew that all too well, but he trusted her and as far as he knew she trusted him. So he waited, she would ask if she wanted to and then he would listen. Pushing her served no purpose other than annoying her and they knew each other for too long for that. But he had to admit, he had never seen Lena nervous before. Couple that with the Navy trailing him earlier for no apparent reason, he was getting a bad feeling off this.


	2. Fight or Flight?

**Diclaimer**: EVE Online is owned by CCP and i claim ownership of nothing except the storyline.

For any people who read this I hope you've enjoyed it so for. I'll try to make at least one chapter a week, though we'll see how that goes through the holidays. Secondly I appreciate any reviews and tips people can give me. English is not my first language, so forgive any spelling errors. Feel free to point them out though.

**1. Fight or Flight?**

She was breathing hard and knew she was running out of time and energy. For the past fifteen minutes she had been running full speed from her captors. Dodging left and right into service tunnels and climbing maintenance shafts. Fleeing as fast her feet could carry her. All she had on was a black tank top, black pants and lace less boots. Her red hair was tied up into a knot and her brown eyes were franticly scanning the corridor she was running along for signs on where she was and which direction to go in. No such luck. Everyone used electronic aids to get around and just logged into the local network for a map and a route. But she had no way of logging in and even if she did, she couldn't, they would find her instantly then. The only thing protecting her at the moment was her lack of direction and the fact that she wasn't electronically traceable. But even in the maintenance areas there were normal camera's and they would find her if she didn't keep moving. That was all she could think off as she ran along.

"_Have to keep moving, can't get caught again." _

The first time had not been a pleasant experience. She took another left and started climbing a ladder that led to the next level. There was only one place she could think of where she would be reasonably safe on this station and that was near the hangers. Too many people and too much open spaces for them to find her easily there. Add capsuleer hangers to the mix which severely limited any access and surveillance and you had the perfect hiding place until she found a way off this godforsaken station.

She jumped of the ladder as she reached the next level and started running again towards what she believed to be the side of the station that contained the hangers. She took a right and ascended a spiral staircase. Reaching the top she skidded to a halt in the middle of one of the larger service tunnels. This one was about 3 stories high and 30 meters across. It was one of the main service passage ways in the spine of the station, used for moving large equipment and machinery around. She needed to get off it again quick. They were highly monitored and used, though strangely she saw no people walking around at the moment. But going back wasn't an option either, she could hear soft voices coming from the stairwell already. They had definitely not given up on the chase yet, but she got one lucky break. On the walls there were directions painted. In red a simple words, Docking Bay, with an arrow pointing further along the tunnel. At least she knew where she was going now. Forcing her legs to move again she took off for the hangers while looking around for any tunnel or shaft that would take her off the main tunnel.

After a few dozen meters she spotted another tunnel that led out to the left of the shaft. The voices in the background had meanwhile been growing louder. They had probably spotted her on camera's from the main corridor. Running full speed she rounded the corner dead set on getting off the main path as quickly as possible and ran headfirst into an unyielding metal door. Dumbfounded she sat there for a few seconds staring at the closed door, until she could process what had happened.

"_That __door __should __have __opened __for __her __automatically!_"

She struggled to get up again, her head was pounding and her legs felt like they were made of stone, but she had to move. Now more than ever. That closed door meant they knew where she was and had locked out the exits. If she didn't find a way out of this area fast they would box her in, but going back wasn't an option either. She scurried to the switchbox next to the door to try and manually override the door. That's when she registered the sound of footsteps rounding the corner to the main tunnel. She dreaded that sound, but couldn't resist looking back. She almost couldn't control her panic at the sight. Four heavily armored men dressed in black combat suits walked towards her with guns raised. She could hear the soft hum of their charged gauss guns as laser sights traced red dots over her body. Their faces hidden behind helmets and she realized they had probably been using thermal vision to track her escape path. Her escape had been hopeless from the start.

Then a fifth man rounded the corner. He wasn't holding a gun nor wearing a helmet, his face was clearly visible and she feared him the most. Short buzz cut hair and grim acceptance on his face. He looked like an officer that had seen and was forced to do many a terrible thing, but had survived nevertheless. His grey eyes pierced hers as he spoke. "Running is unwise Dr Shift. You knew this would be the outcome, both of running and your work. Now come with us quietly and we won't restrain you again."

Her mouth felt numb and it took her a few seconds to process what he had said. She wanted to get up and run again, but she was done. She had nothing left to give, but still she refused to accept defeat. Words still not coming she just furiously shook her head, while trying to get up again. Hanging on to the pipes on the side of the corridor she managed to pull herself up. Words finally reached her mouth. "No, never. I won't work for you, never again."

The officers face visibly hardened as he gave a quick hand signal. Guns raised again and she could almost feel the laser sights trace over her forehead. "Dear doctor, that wasn't a request. You either come with us or you die. It's a simple matter, now choose!"

Her body went limp again as she slumped to the floor as she closed her eyes to hide the tears.

"_How __had __it __all __come __to __this._"

The restaurant was quiet as ever as the waiter came and went with Cyber's drink. He patiently sipped at his Amarrian tea, waiting for Lena to finish organizing here thoughts. He had even made a couple of remote purchases off the market while linked into the station. Finally she seemed to snap out of it and looked him directly in the eye. "You know me and my three sisters are all capsuleers, right?"

Cyber nodded at that. "Yes, all four of you graduated at the same time from the University of Caille in YC 108. You started Fusion Labs Inc. three days after graduating. Originally a production corporation you grew quickly and reached 100 members within a year. This allowed you to move into logistics and later R&D and tech 2 production. The four of you still lead the corporation as co-ceo's, though you hold the official title according to Concord. " He quickly ticked of the information from memory.

Now it was Lena's turn to nod. "Yes, all accurate except for one thing. There were 5 of us who graduated from the University that year." Lena sighed and stared at her tea. "Except the fifth didn't graduate as a capsuleer. She got a science degree in nanotechnology and bio-engineering. She went on to work for Duvolle Laboratories and did quite well there. We kept in touch, but nothing really regular. Then a week ago I suddenly get a transmission from her. Something about her work and a breakthrough, but also the dangers it could pose. She wanted to meet face to face to tell me about it. That meeting was supposed to take place 2 days ago. She never made it there."

Looking up she met his eyes. "I spent the last 2 days finding out where she was. Turns out she did make it to this station, just never to me. I don't know who intercepted her, but I do know there planning on moving her today. I don't know where too or what for, but I'm scared for her. Being a capsuleer has not removed me from family ties, she is still my sister Cyber and I care for her. "

She shifted nervously in her seat for a moment and then continued. "I don't like asking for help Cyber, but I can't do anything for her anymore. I'm an industrialist, not a fighter. You're the only one I trust enough that I know that can do anything for her. All I'm asking is that you find her and get her safe so I can meet her and figure out what the hell is going on. I don't know who's after her, so I also don't know where, if anywhere, in empire space is safe. But I know you have contacts with capsuleer alliances out in the lawless regions of null security space." Lena was close to tears at this point. "Please, just find her somewhere safe."

Cyber was slightly taken aback. He had never seen Lena like this, but then it wasn't surprising was it. He had thought about this point often, but had come to the same conclusion time and again. Capsuleers, for all their wealth, power and immortality, were still humans at the core. With the same emotions and feelings as anyone else, no matter how many capsuleers would argue differently. They simply had more time and vastly more wealth then the baseliners so there viewpoint was different. But now was not the time for philosophical deliberations, Lena wanted an answer.

He briefly thought it over and quickly came to the conclusion that he had decided to help her in the first few seconds and was already running possible scenario's of how this could play out in his neural implant. Lena was a friend, for better and worse, and she'd never let him down before. He saw no reason to not to return the favor. Besides if Lena hadn't been able to cut through the red tape surrounding this that meant that someone with considerable sway was behind this. He smiled a bit at that, it had been a long time since he had a true challenge.

He nodded to Lena. "Tell me everything you know and start from the top."

"_How __had __it __all __come __to __this._"

She blinked the tears away. She knew she would go with them, just like she had last time. She didn't want to die, who would. She used the pipes to get up again and leant back against the door when the station speakers in the corridor suddenly sprang to life.

"Officer, I think she will take choice number 3." An unfamiliar Amarrian voice spoke over the speaker.

The officer and the four soldiers looked around for the unknown person same as she, when she heard a whine coming from the pipes on the opposite side of the wall. The officer heard it too and looked to investigate. The pipes response was the whine turning into a screech as it exploded at the juncture, spreading fire throughout the corridor as the gas from it ignited. At the same time she felt the door she was leaning on began to move. Unable to keep her balance and instinctively wanting to get away from the fire as fast as possible she fell backwards through the door opening. Halfway into her fall arms caught her fall and slung her away from the fire as the door began to close again. She was flung over a shoulder and got a glimpse of the Amarrian that was carrying her. His crisp black suit seeming oddly out of place for what he was doing. With her over his shoulder the man began running through the corridor at a speed she hadn't thought possible. He was easily outrunning any pace she could manage and this was while carrying her on his back. He ducked right into another corridor as she heard the voice of the officer behind her again. Apparently they had gotten through the fire and managed to open the door again.

The man just kept on running and she had to admit that being transported this way was not as uncomfortable as she had imagined. His upper body seemed to be staying weirdly motionless even though he was running at full speed. He took a left and headed up some stairs and then took another right, before coming to a halt before a door. After a short wait it opened and they started moving again, though this time the man just walked. She didn't get the slower pace all of a sudden and on top of that she was tired of being carried.

"I can walk myself you know."

The man immediately stopped and unceremoniously dropped her on her feet. For a moment she regretted being so harsh, after all he had saved her from the Gallente soldiers. Then again she had no idea why and she wasn't trusting anyone at the moment. Finding her balance she looked up at him, he seemed a bit older then her, but not much. His short hair and blue eyes were unusual for an Amarrian. He simply looked back with a neutral expression and gestured onwards.

"Right this way, were almost at our destination." He said as he began walking along the surprisingly neat corridor. She noticed it didn't look like a maintenance tunnel at all. It was lavishly designed with benches on the side and carpet on the floor. Flowing designs and even plants setup along the sides. He noticed her curiosity as he looked back. "This corridor is only accessible to a few people on this station. Even if they do think of looking here it will take them time to get in. Concord security usually doesn't like trespassers." He smiled at that last part.

She frowned at that, but started walking after him. What did Concord have to do with all this?


	3. Flight first

**Diclaimer**: EVE Online is owned by CCP and I claim ownership of nothing except the storyline.

First of all thanks for my first review, I appreciate it. I hope any readers enjoy the next chapter. It's still all on station, but I promise space combat in the next chapter. As always any comments, reviews and tips are appreciated.

**Flight first**

After a while they had reached what seemed to be a transport hub. Multiple corridors that looked almost identical to the one they just came out of seemed to all converge on this one location. A few people were standing around or boarding rapid transit vehicles. She could tell this wasn't a normal station transit hub though. Not nearly enough people and no mass transport of any kind. It was all private shuttles and expensive docking bays. Thinking about it, this could be a Concord hub. She'd heard about them. At one point the SCC and DED departments of Concord had decided they needed safe and above all private means of transportation through stations. While the station was officially under the jurisdiction of the party that owned it, both the Secure Commerce Commission and the Direct Enforcement Department held sizeable stakes in all of them. So they had put "proposed" an initiative to make that a reality and after a few "incentives" had gotten permission. Pretty much every station now sported these secure hubs. Accessible supposedly only by Concord officials they were highly monitored and guarded. It allowed the SCC to conduct their business a lot quicker and more secure while the DED could do their "business" more private.

Once again she asked herself who he was that he had access to these kinds of things. He hadn't said a word after he'd told her she was safe for now and she hadn't dared ask yet. He had simply walked on, seemingly expecting her to just follow along. He could be from Concord, maybe a DED operative. She mulled the possibility over among other things, but rejected it in the end for one simple reason. He hadn't stopped and was still looking tense, they weren't safe here yet. That made her lose her step for moment. There was only one other type of, well for a lack of a better word people, that allegedly had access to these hubs. Capsuleers.

He stopped when he heard her change in step and looked at her with those piercing blue eyes again. She would swear he could look straight into her mind with those. Then for the first time since the hallway he spoke again, softly. "I know you probably have a lot of questions and I haven't been very forthcoming with answers. However even here time works against us, so we have to hurry a bit. I have arranged for a shuttle to pick us up here and take us to my personal hanger. I'll answer all the questions I can on the shuttle ride there and then I'll have a few of my own. How we move on once we get to my hanger depends on the answers of both our questions."

She simply nodded as he ushered her into the waiting room as the door closed behind her. She'd gotten over most of the shock after the chase now and her mind was starting function properly again.

"_As properly as it ever did"_

She almost snorts at that, but manages to contain the reaction. Her mind had always had a tendency to make unlikely connections and leaps of thought that surprised most people. Which had both advantages and disadvantages. One of her teachers back at the university had once called her a brilliant klutz. She could come up with brilliant new solutions for problems, but she tended to leave the meticulously working it out part to her assistants. That wasn't to say her knowledge wasn't practical, but she preferred thinking up the solutions and building the prototypes to the writing of papers and reports.

Lost in thought she almost didn't hear the whisper that escaped him as he walked up to the window overlooking the shuttle entrance. "As long as I can keep concord off our back until then."

Well he was definitely not from Concord then, but she wasn't sure she liked the conclusion she was forced to reach from that. Her sisters were capsuleers as well, true enough, but look what it had done to them. She had never seen them since shortly after they became capsuleers, some calls and messages. Sometimes even money, but that was it. It seemed like to them only other capsuleers existed. Like they had created a new reality based solely on that. She'd only asked Lena for help because she had nowhere else to go, no one else to help her. Then it clicked.

"You're a capsuleer aren't you?"

She could see his reflection in the window put up a small smile as he nodded, but didn't turn around. The soft voice seemed to permeate the room as he spoke again.

"Yes I am and for your next two questions. Yes I know your sisters and yes I'm helping you as a favor to them." He shrugged. "One of them anyway." He turned around, small smile still in place. "Glad to see you're as smart as Lena said."

She grew quiet at the mention of Lena.

"_So she had found a way to help after all."_

Lena had kept in touch the most out of the three of her of her sisters. She had trouble still thinking about them like that, but Lena had seemed to try the most. It's why she had called her and not the other two. Lena still seemed semi-human at least.

She looked up as the waiting room began to vibrate as a shuttle maneuvered slowly to the docking ramp. Turning to the capsuleer, who still seemed to be staring into open space, she called out. "The shuttle is here."

He turned to face her and nodded towards the see through front of the waiting room. "So is Concord."

He had tried to keep them away as best he could, but the moment he had entered the corridor to take them here he had been flagged. Normally this wasn't an issue, Concord tracked but didn't intervene until you broke a law in empire space. However the standard electronic trackers still thought he was in his quarters and when he suddenly got logged here, red flags went up. People were not supposed to be in two places at once. There reaction time had been slightly faster than he had hoped for, but he'd planned for it as always.

He looked over to his new charge, who was looking at the DED operatives just outside the waiting room with worry etched on her face. She was a smart one, he would admit that, but not used to situations like this. That much was certain. He allowed himself another small smile, absently noting that he had smiled more in the past half an hour then in the week before that. "Don't worry so much. It's one way glass, they can't see us in here."

She looked at him with a slightly confused expression on her face, as the DED operatives split into two teams. Both heading in the same direction, on either side of the open hub, away from their waiting room. "The docking bay I logged with my actual ID is quite a bit further along. They won't find out that we left for a while." His smile faded as he walked towards the now docked shuttle. "Come, time to get away from here."

She followed him into the shuttle silently and sat down on one if the large sofa's in the shuttle's lounge. He walked to the on board bar for a drink while he logged their destination into the shuttle's navigations system wirelessly. A sudden jolt followed by a quiet hum were the only indicators that they had left the dock, that is unless you looked out the large windows that lined the sides of the ship. He poured himself a drink and then motioned to her if she wanted a drink as well. "Water please." Was the only reaction he got. So he poured her a glass and handed it to her before sitting himself on the couch opposite of hers.

"We have about ten minutes before the shuttle reaches my private hanger and we have to move again. Which gives us ten minutes to ask each other questions." Downing his drink, he set the empty glass on the table in between them. "But first things first. As I haven't had the time yet let me properly introduce myself. You can call me Cyber. And no that's not my real name, but it's what almost everyone calls me now so it'll do." Stretching his hand forward to shake hers.

She looked as his hand and then back up to his face before she snapped out her seemingly never ending thought process and shook it. "I'm Kyra, Dr Kyra Shift. As you probably already know and thanks for getting me out of there. Sorry if I don't seem grateful, because I am, it's just been a… well let's leave it at a bad day." She sighs at that.

Nodding at that Cyber moves on. "Pleased to meet you Dr Shift. Yes, Lena filled me in as best she could. Although why these people are out to get you neither she or I know. I have the odd feeling you know though." Raising his hand before she starts to speak he talks on. "But that's a question of mine that can wait for now. As I said we only have ten minutes, let's spend them wisely. I know enough, given the fact that they were registered under the Gallente Navy, so I have taken appropriate measures to get us off this station. Beyond that sating my curiosity can wait. However I'm willing to bet you still have a few questions and I'll answer them as best I can."

He simply looked at her assuming her question would take a while. She seemed to think a lot before speaking, or at least that had been the pattern thus far. For the first time in a while he was wrong. The sounds of his voice hadn't yet even fully faded when she asked her question. Though he supposed it was the most obvious one to ask from her point of view.

"Why?"

Absentmindedly brushing a lock of her red hair back behind her again. He noted part of her had come undone out of the knot. "Please don't get me wrong, I'm not ungrateful, but why? Why involve yourself with this, with me? I assume you know enough about these people to know they don't mess around. They won't stop once we leave this station, to be honest I'm not sure they ever will." Then she seemed to hesitate for a moment before finishing the final sentence. "And capsuleers usually don't do things out of the good of their hearts."

That last bit caught him a bit off guard, but he understood. Pretty much every normal person feared the capsuleers. People are quick to judge that which they don't understand and partly their reputation was of their own making. He brushed it aside for now and focused on the actual question. Leaning forward he rested his head on both hands.

"I've known your sister for years now Dr Shift. Lena is one of the few people in this universe I consider a true friend." Looking her straight in the eye now. "A friend asked for my help, what would you do?"

He saw confusion pass behind her eyes and thought better of ignoring the capsuleer remark now. "You like almost everyone else seem to consider us something both more and less than human. Yes, I am an immortal capsuleer. We have more money then you will probably ever make in your lifetime and the power to control spaceships with enough power to wreck stations and planets alike. On top of all that we have the freedom to use these assets to control the lives or deaths of hundreds of millions if we so choose." He turned his head sideways slightly, his icy blue eyes still locked with hers. "Even with all that, just a few hours ago I watched your sister cry when she asked for my help to keep you safe. In the end we're still human, the only difference is scale." Now shock travel past those deep brown eyes as she raises a hand to cover her mouth. "Now I ask again, what would you do when a friend asks for your help?"

She breaks eye contact and looks down after that. Few people had probably ever heard an admission like that from a capsuleer. She seemed to understand the answer though. I caught enough from Lena's explanation and her mistrust of capsuleers that their relationship had not been the best after Lena had started her life as a podder. This would at least give her some understanding. They were approaching their destination rapidly now though, the time for talk would soon be over again.

"I'm assuming that answers your question sufficiently." She nods without looking up. "Good, now the hanger grows closer ever still. Any more questions before we have to move again?"

This time she does think for a bit, not daring to look up while she sorts through her thoughts. Eventually she finds her words again, looking up to meet blue eyes. Softly she speaks. "Where are you taking me? You said you knew enough the people following me, but I don't think you understand how far they will go to get me back. I can think of a few places to hide, maybe, but none that are actually safe."

The small smile comes back onto his face. She would not like his answer. "Trust me when I say that where we're going no one in empire will be a problem. I've called in a few favors and we'll have access to a couple of capsuleer alliance owned stations out in null sec." For a moment he saw fear flash behind her eyes, but she seemed to suppress it quickly enough. Good, that meant she was learning. "We'll be as safe from any empire influence out there as we can. On top of that I know we can trust the alliance as well, so all we have to worry about is getting there."

That immediately sparked another question from her.

"How do you plan to get us out of here?"

It's another understandable question, but he has to chuckle at it. Confusion in her eyes again and he allows the chuckle to fade back into a small smile as he simply replies.

"Why I simply plan to undock and fly away."

That last answer had both confused and worried her and she remained quiet for the last bit of the journey. Could Cyber truly be that careless to think they wouldn't try and stop him from doing either of those things. He didn't seem to grasp how dangerous these people were and apparently wasn't interested in finding out either, at least not from her. It occurred to her that maybe the fact that he was immortal made most of this trivial to him. If they blew him up, he'd simply wake up somewhere else and move on. She did not have that luxury and he didn't know what was at stake. Why they were actually after her.

"_What I have done"_

The last few years of the research she had done had come up with a few applications that were less then…. well tasteful for lack of a better word. She'd considered telling Cyber about it a few times, but could never put herself to it. She didn't trust him that far yet and he would definitely not be happy about what she'd done, not happy at all. Besides if he did what he said he would, she would be safe and there'd be no need to tell. That thought didn't comfort her as much as she hoped it would, but she had remained silent nonetheless.

They had docked at what she presumed was Cyber's private hanger and silently disembarked. He had simply motioned for her to follow and so she did. They walked along a nicely lit, but strangely smooth corridor. She hadn't seen a crack, seem or right angle yet. All the corners were smoothed round and it seemed like it had been made out a solid sheet of greenish metal. The strange corridor led straight into what she thought was Cyber's quarters. It was certainly smaller then she imagined, but retained the strange sense of smoothness that the corridor had. Like this place wasn't part of the station or even this time.

On a large U shaped couch five Minmatar, four men and one women, sat watching a large holo display. They all looked up at Cyber, then her and back to Cyber as they came in. The women grinned and spoke up. "Hey Cybs, who's the new girl?"

Cyber gave her an odd look for the nickname but smiled that small smile of his as well. So she figured they were friendly. "Amongst other things, she's your new job. " He turned to her. "Dr Shift, allow me to introduce to you to the Valkyries. The self-proclaimed best soldiers in all of New Eden." The men laughed and the women scowled a bit at the jab. " In no particular order: The short one with the black spiky hair is Skid, who can work or hack pretty much every machine you'll ever see. Then the one with the brown hair and red face tattoo on his cheek is Arekh, the demolition expert. Next to him is Murat, the guy who will talk your ear off if you're not careful. He also happens to be the best sniper I've ever met. Then the bald one is Leat, the local weapons expert and we finish off with Vesla. The woman who keeps this fine bunch together. She'll also kicks everyone's ass in hand to hand combat." He motioned back to the group. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Dr Kyra shift." They all greeted her in their own way. From a wave from and a 'Yo' from Murat to a single nod from Skid.

"Now Vesla will you set Dr Shift up in Lightning and keep her company. The rest of you settle in for spaceflight." He turned to her once again. "Now if you'll excuse me I also have get ready, I'll talk to you in the ship." She simply nodded and he walked off towards another part of the quarters. She heard the hiss of a door open and close and then he was gone. The Valkyries also started moving about, with all the men heading for another door and Vesla moving towards her.

"We'll Dr Shift, I guess that leaves just us. Mind if I call you Kyra by the way?" she smiled and nodded, it was hard not to like this woman. She seemed so perky. "Good, now if you'll follow me Kyra and I'll show you our ride out of here. The ship Cyber called Lightning."

They walked through the door the other men went through as well which led to a docking ramp, that oddly enough did not seem to connect to any ship. When they reached the end of the ramp it opened up in a large hanger and she could finally see the ship. The golden hull had a strange green gleam as it floated there in zero gravity. The ship was not the largest she'd ever seen but still impressive. Vesla pushed a button on the railing and the last section of the ramp, on which they stood, came loose and started floating towards the ship."Behold Lightning, a Zealot class heavy assault cruiser." She said with a smile. "She not the biggest out there, but trust me she packs a hell of a punch. One of Cyber's favorite ships." The Zealot did seem ever more foreboding as they came closer. Indeed not the biggest she'd seen, but at about 350 meters long and 125 ton it was nothing to be sneezed at. Add to that this was a tech 2 cruiser and piloted by a capsuleer she had no doubt it was a formidable foe.

The floating ramp locked into place in the Zealots hanger and with a hiss a door to the interior opened up. Vesla motioned her onwards and they moved into the bowels of the ship. "This is the passenger compartment. There are several quarters for guests, a lounge area and even a cantina. You can pick your own quarters, but as you don't seem to have any luggage at all that can wait." A strong vibration went through the ship as the engines power up. She could still hardly believe she was on a capsuleer vessel. "Ah, were getting ready to undock. Let me show you to the observation room, most people like that."

She led on as she explained what the observation room was. "As you can understand windows are a structural integrity nightmare on a warship, but people soon figured out that crews and guests alike loved to be able to see outside regardless. So they put up monitors everywhere depicting the space the camera's saw outside. Now the observation room takes all these images and mangles them through a computer in some way to create one big picture. It's basically a 360 degree view of what's around the ship. Quite pretty if I do say so myself."

They took a left from the lounge area, which looked pretty nice, and through a door into a large spherical room with a seemingly glass floor. "Here lemme turn it on." As she said that the room came to life. The entire sphere became one holographic screen showing at the moment part of the stations docks, but ahead she could already see the station exit. The room itself surprised her in its simple beauty. She'd been on ships before, but always in private quarters. They had windows of course, but nothing like this.

"Keeping our guest entertained I see Vesla." Cyber's voice came from behind her. She swiftly turned around.

"_Wasn't he supposed to be piloting the ship?"_

"Well you said keep her company and you know how much I like the view out there." She smiled. "Besides aren't you supposed to be keeping your mind occupied with something else, like piloting the ship."

Cyber raised an eyebrow at that. "Wouldn't be much of capsuleer if I couldn't multitask and you know the station drones handle the undocking for the most part anyway."

"Yea yea, get your holographic ass back up in your pod. We're having girl talk in here."

Cyber simply smiled and then faded away.

Only then did it hit her. He was projecting himself into the room through the holo emitters. She laughed a bit at her own stupidity for not having realized that earlier. Which earned her an odd look from Vesla. The holo was been extremely lifelike though, she thought as she looked back to the front of the ship. Just into time to watch the ship full leave the station and see open space.

Just in time to see yellow targeting boxes pop up and hear Cyber's voice boom through the ship. "All hands prepare for combat, damage control teams to your stations. I repeat all hands prepare for combat."

They had been waiting for them.


	4. Fight later

**Diclaimer**: EVE Online is owned by CCP and I claim ownership of nothing except the storyline.

Took a bit of a break for the holidays, but we should be back to our normal schedule by now. I hope you enjoy the new chapter and Happy New Years! As always any comments, reviews and tips are appreciated.

**Fight later**

They had been waiting for them.

"Fuck" She heard Vesla say behind her and Kyra couldn't help but agree. The observation room was currently giving her a nice view of a Gallente navy strike wing. Around fifty yellow target locks floating in space. She had heard rumors and been told stories, hell there are even holo's depicting capsuleers in battle, but she had never been in one.

Fifty to one did not seem good odds, even for a capsuleer.

He had been waiting for them.

After they went through the trouble of closing off an entire section of the station simply to secure Dr Shift, he knew they would be waiting for them in space. Capsuleer decks were off limits and guarded well by Concord and private military contractors. Beyond that to break in there would ire every capsuleer out there and that was trouble not even the Gallente Navy needed. So the most efficient way to catch them was to simply guard all the exits, the undock being the main one. After all they had to leave some time.

He admitted they had more then he thought they would. Apparently Navy response time wasn't that bad, still not on par with Concord, but not bad at all. He shifted slightly in the liquid filled pod as he scanned the Gallente fleet. Five battleships, including one Hyperion class, ten battle cruisers, around fifteen cruisers and twenty odd frigates. In most any case a force to be reckoned with, in this case especially since he was not fitted for a prolonged battle. If he got caught, he doubted Lightning would survive.

Nothing too concerning though, he would deal with it. He filtered through a few status reports and brought the shields and weapons online. Noting there current formation was stationary, with the frigate screen spread out in front of the stations undock, he plotted several courses through the screen that would maximize his chances of escape and damage to the fleet.

His brain tingled and he couldn't help but smile in his pod. A communications request, they weren't so keen on fighting him either.

He had been expecting him.

The camera's had caught an image of the Amarrian that had helped the traitor escape. A simple database check had confirmed the capsuleers identity, coming up with the call sign Cyber 13. They had quickly scrambled more ships together and had set up on the stations undock. But even with fifty ships at his command Captain Nouveau felt a slight unease at having to engage a capsuleer.

"Sir tactical details on the enemy Zealot class Heavy Assault Cruiser." He took the data pad from his tactical officer.

He expected most of it. Common Amarr design, the Zealot would be a tough nut to crack with formidable armor defenses and powerful laser batteries. The tactical data showed heavy pulse lasers installed which would mean a world of pain for anything at their 10 click optimal. But the Zealot lacked speed and had no drone compliment. If the frigates could get it webbed down and orbit it outside the guns tracking ability they had a good chance. Slowed down his heavy hitters could get within their considerably shorter blaster range and should be able to overpower the Zealots armor. He sighed and shook his head. There would still be many casualties though, no capsuleer vessel ever went out without a fight.

He straightened up, he was a Navy officer and had been so for over twenty years. He would follow orders and he would complete his task. However with any luck he could do it without a fight to the death.

The communications officer spoke up. "Captain, the capsuleer is responding. Audio and visual."

"On screen." He ordered back.

The holographic display in the middle of the bridge sprang to life as the head of an Amarrian materialized in front of him. Clean and neat, but Nouveau knew it was simply a holographic representation. Something the capsuleer wanted to you to see. The real one was hooked up to his pod through various wires and tubes and he must say he agreed with the capsuleer on one thing already. He wouldn't want to be seen like that either.

However he kept his features smooth and strict, this was the enemy.

"I am Captain Nouveau of the Hyperion class battleship Merovingian, commander of this strike fleet. I have been ordered to apprehend a known traitor to the Gallente Federation. To my knowledge she is on your ship. Power down your shields and weapons and prepare to boarded."

The capsuleers face remained impassive except for a small smile on his mouth that never made it to his eyes. "Good to meet you too captain. However as you are very much aware I cannot do that. I ask that you stand down to avoid the unnecessary battle that will follow. I have no desire or need to kill any of you, however if I am engaged your fleet will not survive this battle. I promise you that."

Nouveau mentally reeled a bit at the capsuleers confidence. He seemed to have no doubt as to what the outcome could be. Then again it could be a trick, after all the image was simply a projection so reading any emotions would be impossible. For all he knew the capsuleer could be shaking in his pod, but somehow he doubted that. He straightened up even more if that were possible before he answered.

"We have our orders capsuleer. We have no need to harm you or your vessel, but this is your last warning. Surrender the traitor or your vessel will be destroyed."

The capsuleers blue eyes seemed to turn to ice at the statement and the small smile was nowhere to be found. "As you wish, take pride in your last battle captain."

Then the comm. system disengaged, the capsuleer had closed the channel.

"Sir, the Zealot is starting to move!" the tactical officer called out.

"Frigate wings one and two move in, get tackle on that ship. I want it unable to even jerk a turret. All other vessels launch combat drones and load antimatter rounds. Attack formation Beta 3, Microwarpdrives on."

Captain Nouveau looked back at the tactical display and raised an eyebrow. Two red blips indicated two frigates already destroyed, but that was not what worried him. He had expected it, but sadly it was a necessary sacrifice. What was more concerning was where the zealot was going and how fast it was getting there. In the time it took him to pull up the Zealots current output three more frigates evaporated. He mentally reeled at the data the tac screen was giving him now. The heavy pulses were tracking way beyond their specifications, but what was even more concerning was that the frigates had not closed the distance yet.

The Zealot was outrunning the frigate wing.

Cyber couldn't help but enjoy the confusion that captain Nouveau must be feeling now.

It's something no empire had even thought of doing, but had become commonplace among capsuleers. Lightning was not armor tanked, it had nothing more than a marginal shield buffer between it and total destruction. But the tradeoff was well worth it, Lightning boasted a destructive potential few cruisers could match. Its laser batteries damage and tracking enhanced to the point where every two seconds another frigate simply vaporized. However up close the frigates would still be dangerous, even enhanced as it was the tracking ability of the heavy pulse laser had its limits and that's when Lightning played its trump card.

Releasing the thermal couplings on its own Microwarpdrive it moved in excess of 3500 meters per second. Outrunning the Navy frigates chasing it. Of course he could only overheat his MWD for a limited time before the module would burn out completely and cease to function. But it should last for well over a minute before the heat built up that far and a minute was all he needed.

Mindlessly he changed the Zealots course and swapped out the Multifrequency crystals out for the longer range Scorch version. He had pulled enough range, now it was time to get serious. Re-tasking the guns on to the last remaining frigates he moved Lightning parallel to the cruiser wing that was moving in to support their dying comrades. He shuddered in his pod as he could almost feel the purple lasers make contact with the other ships hull. Damage registries as well as spectral analysis on the wreckage flooded his mind and were brushed aside to Aura for analysis.

The last of the frigate wing now nothing more than floating debris he shut down his MWD to allow it to cool down for a bit and preserve some precious capacitor. He briefly considered just running away, they did not have his warp drive scrambled for now after all, but decided against it. They chose this battle and they would live down the consequences.

The cruisers were slower than the frigates and would need time to come within any threatening range. His lasers however had no such qualms with cruisers moving straight at him. Letting loose once again the first Thorax class cruiser exploded after only three volleys.

They would learn to regret fighting a capsuleer.

Kyra stood completely still in the holo room, mouth slightly open as she watched another flash representing another ship gone. She was stumped at how fast and efficiently Cyber was dismantling the Gallente fleet.

Apparently fifty to one were good odds for a capsuleer.

"Those stupid sons of bitches!" Vesla exclaimed behind her. She turned around to face Vesla, who didn't look surprised at all. She looked angry and sad at the same time.

Vesla finally caught her surprised look at but looked back at the screen as she spoke. "That fleet never had a chance. There simply sitting there waiting for Cyber to kill them all. Which he will do if they don't warp out."

A lead ball started to form in her stomach. "I'm no fan of killing, but its either us or them and I do prefer living over dying."

A sad chuckle came from the woman beside her. "You don't get it. It's not us or them. Cyber can leave any time he wants. He's killing them simply because they tried and are still trying to engage him."

That struck a chord as she watched another flash. Another crew of dozens snuffed out without a second thought. Was it true? How could someone be so heartless as to murder all those people. She knew soldiers before, they were just following orders. If he could simply leave, why stay? Why purposefully kill them all? She couldn't understand, to her it didn't make sense. So she went for the only reason that made some form of sense.

Cyber had said he'd protect her and apparently he was taking that promise to the extreme. She couldn't feel the ship move, nor feel the enemy combat drones strafe the shield relentlessly. She had no control over the ship whatsoever, but she felt responsible all the same. They were dying because of her, plain and simple.

As if sensing her thoughts Vesla spoke up again. "Don't feel guilty for this. Cyber is making the choice, he's purposefully choosing to stay and finish this fight on his terms. But don't judge him for this either, he's simply following his training. They engaged and became the enemy, you destroy your enemy. That's something the Imperial Navy does a good job of drilling into you. I know that all too well."

"But you said he can stop all this, just leave." She exclaimed.

Vesla turned her head to look at her sideways. "Yes he could, if he wanted to, but he doesn't want to. And nothing you say or do will change that."

She looked back to the images the observation room was feeding her still with a pang of guilt. Another flash represented the last of the cruisers gone and hundreds of people dead already. All because they had angered Cyber apparently. As he angled Lightning back to the center of the battleship formation she couldn't stand it anymore. She had to try and stop this. Battle cruisers had crews of hundreds and the battleships would hold thousands of people. That was just too much. Cyber had made is point, they didn't all need to die.

As the first laser volley illuminated the Hyperions hull, she called out his name.

With the cruisers now gone Cyber set to the task of engaging the bulk of the fleet. Both the remaining battle cruiser and battleships had nowhere near the speed or range to effectively counter Lightning. So he did the most prudent thing and went for the head. Lasers slammed into the armor of the lead battleship, the Merovingian. This would take considerably more effort than the cruisers had. Battleships had formidable armor plating, but it was just a matter of time. He had his warp disruptor gently cycling away on the Hyperion class battleship. It wouldn't be going anywhere.

Another tingle in the back of his mind. Dr shift was asking for him in the observation room? Splitting his attention he projected himself into the room while making sure to keep at the appropriate range of the fleet. Vesla and Dr Shift appeared in his mind as the audio and video link piped through. Seeing Dr Shifts look he idly wondered what was wrong. They were safe, the blockading fleet was all but destroyed and they would soon be on their way. Yet she looked distraught.

"Is there something amiss?"

"Why are you killing all of them?" was the immediate reply.

Slightly surprised Cyber made the hologram raise an eyebrow and spoke. "Because they tried to kill us of course." Maybe she was still afraid of the battleships he reasoned. "Don't worry, the remainder of the fleet is no threat. If they don't flee they will be destroyed in a few minu…."

Stopping mid sentences to retrieve new telemetry on the Gallente fleet. They were all moving away and aligning out. The fleet commander had order a retreat apparently. His ship would not be going anywhere though, checking the warp disruptor once more to be online. With almost one third of the armor on the battleship gone already, it would not be long before the Merovingian was nothing more than dust and scrap.

"You don't get it. That's my point, there no threat anymore. There's no need for them all to die!" Dr Shift finished as he focused back on the conversation.

"They engaged us, they made their choice. I did not start this fight, but I am going to be the one to end it." He calmly replied.

She exhaled and visibly tried to calm herself as she spoke again. "Earlier you tried to convince me capsuleers are still just human, that in that pod is still someone that can laugh, cry and show compassion. Yet here you have just erased dozens of people from existence without a second thought. Even going so far as to now finishing off people that are no threat whatsoever."

He noted the rest of the fleet warping off, leaving only the stranded Merovingian in space with them. The last of its armor was almost gone and soon his lasers would start tearing into the superstructure. At that point I was a matter of seconds before the warp core blew and the ship would explode.

"The rest of the fleet has already disengaged and moved off. So you have your wish, they will survive. But the commander of that fleet is on this vessel and he is responsible for all this. He will face the consequences of his actions." He threw back, becoming slightly aggravated by this now.

She didn't seem satisfied and looked back with sad eyes. "There will be thousands of people on that battleship and you would kill them all just to get to one man? Show them some compassion. Show me that there is a human in there after all."

She broke eye contact and looked down after that. "Please don't make me live with the guilt of them dying just for me." The last sentence came out just as a whisper, but the advanced audio equipment in the room caught it and piped it into his brain relentlessly.

He had felt joy at winning another battle and defeating another enemy. Now he simply felt empty. He closed the comm. link and focused back on the battleship.

Perhaps she was right.

The bridge was in ruins and the entire ship could probably be scrapped, but for now she was holding together. Captain Nouveau thought as he away from the flickering holo screen in front of him. They had been chanceless from the start and the capsuleer had known it. After the cruiser wing was also down he had signaled for a general retreat. The Merovingian had been caught by the capsuleer however and he would exact his toll for the Gallente aggression. The last volley had ripped the last of the armor plating off and he was now waiting for the volley that would trigger a core explosion. The crew were already rushing to the escape pods, but he knew their chances of survival were low. Not him though, a captain stayed with his ship. To the bitter end if need to. He focused back on the holo screen waiting for a volley that didn't appear to come.

"_Warp drive active"_

Surprise and relief overwhelmed him as he watched the Zealot bank away and align to a stargate. His tactical display noted the activation of a warp dive and the Zealot accelerated into the distance. He had spared them. At the moment he had no idea why, but he was thank full nonetheless.

Sending out a distress beacon, he did get an odd feeling that he would be seeing that pilot again. This wasn't over yet and next time he would make sure to be prepared.

Somehow he figured the capsuleer wouldn't be as merciful next time.


	5. Destination set

**Diclaimer**: EVE Online is owned by CCP and I claim ownership of nothing except the storyline.

Sorry for the wait, life just got a bit busy and I didn't get around to writing as much. Good news is some people have actually started reading this story so yay for that. As always i hope you enjoy the new chapter and any comments, reviews and tips are appreciated.

**Destination set**

The first jump sensation always left Kyra feeling a bit queasy.

Vesla had seemed to notice and led her away from the observation room to a small cantina like area where they could get something to eat and drink. She simply remained silent as Vesla went to get some food. She was still pondering the earlier fight and the fact that Cyber had left the lead battleship be. He had listened to her, but she could tell he wasn't happy with it. His holo projection had faded right after he ceased fire and he hadn't said anything since. Not a word on where they were going or what was going to happen.

As Vesla sat down next to her with a plate of food she looked up again, grateful to have something to fill her stomach once again. She dug in as Vesla spoke up.

"I can't believe Cyber actually listened to you." She said. "If I had done that he would have simply glared at me and done whatever he wanted. But then again he would have know that I would understand, I'm pretty sure he knew you wouldn't. Not sure if that was enough to make him stop though" she mused.

Kyra swallowed her last bite and had to cut in there. "What's that supposed to mean? Why would you understand him killing people like that?"

Her thought train stopped Vesla blinked and looked back at her before answering. "I told you, they attacked and became the enemy. The Imperial Navy is very adept at training there people that anything that becomes the enemy must be destroyed." She smiled a bit and continued. "Hell, I'm pretty sure Cyber doesn't even realize it's still that instilled in him."

"What does the Amarr Navy have to do with this? Cyber is a capsuleer, he owes no loyalty to any of the empires. It also still doesn't explain why you would understand."

Her nature as a scientist was coming back again now she had a safe and tranquil environment to talk in. Which meant she would not stop asking until she got to the bottom of this, one way or another.

"Ah, I thought you knew this. Otherwise I would have explained earlier. Cyber was in the Imperial Navy, that's where he received his capsuleer training. You don't just become a capsuleer overnight, it takes years of training to get used to the data flood a capsule link provides you with. Then your first body needs to be prepped for implants and all the link equipment. The clone bodies he's used after that are grown with the implants and any other equipment already inside them, but the first one needs all that implanted surgically. Quite a few of the candidates died in the process, I must say it's quite grueling."

"Of course you don't just get that kind of training, even before that you need to show aptitude and have been in the Navy for a while already. That's what I meant with the training, Cyber's been trained by the Imperial Navy for years. That's not something you just shake off, even as a capsuleer."

"He has tried his best though, that's why I understand. Outside of direct combat he's always reasonable and willing to listen to pretty much everyone. But somehow in direct combat instinct just kicks in and any enemy needs to died."

That made sense to her in a way. She knew quite a bit about capsuleer implants and interfaces from her research, but she didn't know a lot about military training. However training soldiers to be emotionless killers is something she could imagine pretty much every military force doing. It still didn't make it right in her eyes, but at least she could understand. It still didn't answer one question though.

"That's still doesn't answer why you would understand all this better."

Vesla smiled slightly, but it was a sad smile. "That's simple, I was in the Navy with him. I understand because I used to be like that and it took a lot of time and effort to get rid of it."

Something didn't click there. "That doesn't add up, you're not Amarr. Your clearly Minmatar, just like the rest of your group, and I don't see the Imperial Navy recruiting Minmatar into their ranks."

That same sad smile made it onto her face again. "No you can't really say we were recruited."

Vesla left it at that and Kyra got the distinct impression she wouldn't say anything more on the subject. So she dug back into her food, hunger taking priority over questions now. After that she really needed some sleep, there would be time later to ask more questions.

The office he was lead into was sparsely decorated. Only a plant in the corner and the Gallente flag on the wall. But the symbol that was engraved in the desk was what got Captain Nouveau's attention, a black eagle. That meant trouble, no way around it. The Special Department of Internal Investigations and Federal Security, as it was officially known, was a black ops branch of the Gallente government officially tasked with maintaining internal security and weeding out any corruption in the Gallente government. Unofficially the Black Eagles, as they were commonly known, did a hell of a lot more, but Nouveau refused to let himself in with speculations. He wondered he was here to be questioned about the failed operation on capturing the traitor or if he was being accused of being one himself.

He stood still before the desk and watched the slim man behind it tap away at a few keys on his computer. The man wore a clean black suit with no telling markings and his neatly cut hair suggested more of an accountant then a covert operative, but Nouveau knew that such an assumption would be a mistake. Silence hung in the air as it took the man several minutes to acknowledge his presence. When he finally did he simply nodded to the seat.

The captain sat down and simply waited for the man to ask the first question. He knew starting first would be a mistake. These people only ever asked questions, never answered them. The man finally looked back again and cold green eyes bored into his, seeming to seek any weakness on his part. Nouveau had trouble keeping his eyes locked with the man but managed somehow. He had something unnerving about him, an aura that invoked fear.

"You failed in your given task in capturing the traitor named Dr Shift. Care to explain?"

Nouveau knew that question had been coming, so had his answer ready. "The capsuleer that was transporting her refused to give her up, at which point we engaged. However the enemy ship was not fitted as expected and countered our fleet setup perfectly. After losing all the fast tackle ships my task force possessed I ordered a general retreat to save as many as I could. Staying would have been pointless against an enemy who clearly outmatched us."

The man looked at the screen and then back to him. "Yes, so it states in your report. It also states in what shape they found your ship and that the capsuleer initially caught you as your fleet warped out. A Hyperion class battleship reduced to scrap in but a few minutes and then as it is barely holding together the capsuleer leaves. Why do you think he did that?"

Nouveau had no answer to that. "I honestly don't know sir, maybe he was just making a point. After all we were no threat to him any longer. Honestly I'm not sure he ever truly considered us one to start with."

The man seemed satisfied with the answer nonetheless, nodding to himself before continuing on.

"Understood, in the end it did not matter. You did your job without knowing it."

"Sir?"

"We knew your fleet wouldn't be able to contain the capsuleer captain, especially not such an experienced one. Your job was simple to slow him down. You succeeded in doing that long enough for a cloaked ship to launch and attach a tracking device to the hull of the ship."

Captain Nouveau was stunned, apparently all his men had died for nothing more than a delay. A simple calculated move to make sure they caught the traitor.

"I understand your position as well as what you must now think captain. However trust me when I say that capturing the fugitive is worth several fleets worth of space based assets. Now you have fought this capsuleer and lived though. How would like a chance at round two, but this time with more favorable odds."

He knew they would meet again and Nouveau found that he wanted to go on. His men deserved some payback.

"I would love to sir."

The man smiled at that and with the flick or his hand turned the holo screen so Nouveau could read its contents.

Kyra awoke to the sounds of an alarm blaring and Cyber's voice booming over the audio system.

"All hands to the ready, we are about to leave empire space. I repeat all hands to the ready."

Kyra jumped out her bed and found that she had fallen asleep with her clothes still on. She headed back towards the central canteen area in hopes of finding someone who could tell her what was going on. She found her entire protection group sitting in a booth watching a vid screen with some news readouts. Murat turned around first and smiled.

"Look the princess is finally awake."

For which Vesla proceeded to slap him on the head for.

"Don't mind him, have a seat. You slept through the entire journey through empire space. Were about to head into null security space."

Ah, so that's what the alarm had been about, she thought as she sat down. She felt the weird feeling of being pulled apart and then compressed again as the Zealot jumped through another stargate into lawless space. Idly she wondered where they now where and looked up at the screen showing the current system of EC-P8R, Pure blind region.

No sooner had she looked an alarm bleared again. This time for something else. The screen also displayed target locks in space.

Not again.

Cyber held the Zealot completely still in space as he watched the three pirates circle the gate waiting for him.

The jump effect left the space around Lighting temporarily malformed so there sensors couldn't pick them up yet, but that would only last for so long. The enemy consisted of but two battle cruisers and a cruiser. The battle cruisers would pose no threat being too slow to compare to his, even if they were flown by fellow capsuleers. The Brutix and Harbinger were also under fire from the sentry guns and a few wrecks floating around told him that they had been here for a while.

The cruiser however posed a problem. It wasn't a normal Amarr cruiser, it was a Curse and Zealots did not like them. The Curse was what was referred to as a Combat Recon ship, it did not rely on heavy defenses or a high damage output. It had two secret weapons. First it would boast tracking disruptors which made his laser turrets essentially useless against this fleet. And secondly it would be fit with energy neutralizers. In one, maybe two, cycles of those Lightning would be dead in the water. No capacitor meant no juice for the Microwarpdrive and no MWD meant the other battle cruisers would catch him quickly.

Cyber silently cursed in his mind. That one ship made this from an easy getaway to a no win scenario and he was not a fan of no win scenario's.

Perhaps he could outrun the Curse fast enough to escape his neutralizers. He didn't fancy his odds, but it was the only option he had with virtually no tank and both the battle cruisers sitting on the gate.

Decision made, it was time for action.

Aligning Lightning out he pushed the overheated MWD as fast as it could go. Yellow target locks turned red as he watched his capacitor vanish. He managed to push off a second cycle of the MWD before his capacitor gave out, but it was in vain. The Curse was as fast as him and caught up within seconds.

The tingle in his mind came as no surprise. A communications request, they would demand a ransom or destroy his ship. He suppressed the urge to sigh and answered the communication request as he opened his wallet. He would have to pay no matter what. After all Dr Shift would not likely survive ship destruction like he would.

The Curse pilot showed up in his mind. "Your ship is disabled and you are helpless. Meet our demands and you can go, or not and we'll blow you the hell up." He said with a heavy voice.

Cyber knew how this worked. "State your demands so we can get on with this."'

"150 million to be transferred within 30 seconds."

Cyber was already sorting the transfer when another tingle showed up in his mind. He couldn't help but smile slightly in his pod as he cancelled the transfer.

"Actually I think I'll make some demands of my own. Leave now and I won't be forced to destroy you."

The pirate seemed confused for a second and then closed the comm. channel. Yellow locks became red again as Cyber realigned Lightning and swapped back to close range Multifrequency crystals.

His shield dropped blow half as he smiled. Suddenly all 3 red locks were gone and his shield started regenerating with a silent hum. Around him ten assorted ships decloaked, two Falcon class recon ships among them, completely jamming out any targeting sensors on the three pirate ships. Several volleys of torpedoes and artillery fire from an assortment of stealth bombers and a Rapier class Recon filled the space around him. Absentmindedly he noted that his capacitor had regenerated enough to activate his laser batteries again. With the full force of all five batteries he opened up on the Curse floating nearby. A few seconds later it was nothing more than scrap.

Both the battle cruisers took longer, but their destruction was inevitable. They had no way out and no way to retaliate, much like Cyber earlier he mused. Within a minute both of them were down and he aligned Lightning out as he opened the comm. line with the fleet commander again.

"Just in time as usual Lex."

"Well you were here sooner than we expected. Otherwise we would have cleared them of the gate already."

Cyber smiled, he knew Lex too well for that. "That or you just wanted to see me sweat for a bit before you brought the cavalry in."

Lex couldn't help but laugh at that. "Maybe. Let me patch you into fleet comms and we'll escort you back to home station. Lynn and Lena are waiting for you."

As Lightning and the rest of the fleet hurdled into warp, Cyber's thoughts went towards other things. It wouldn't be long now before they reached the station and met up with Lena again. Then he had some questions and Lena and Dr Shift better had some answers.


	6. Waypoint reached

**Diclaimer**: EVE Online is owned by CCP and I claim ownership of nothing except the storyline.

Sorry for the longer than usual wait, been a bit torn on to how to proceed with the story. I have a good idea of the main storyline, but plotting out the inbetween bits has been a bit harder then expected and i rewrote this chapter at least 5 times to make it fit with where i want to go. In additon i'd like to say in advance that in my story the eve timeline will be slightly different then in the actual game. I've taken a few liberties as to what is and is not yet available and in how developed nullsec is at the moment. In any case it's up now and i hope people enjoy it. On a side note i was curious, how many of the few people that have read this story actually play EVE?

As always i hope you enjoy the new chapter and any comments, reviews and tips are appreciated.

**Waypoint reached**

Cyber calmly floated around in his pod as it automatically docked with the station. After their exciting entrance into null security space the journey had been a relatively short trip to the local alliances capital system, aided by their jump bridge network and escort fleet. The system of VFK-IV sported yet another Gallente outpost, built by one of the empires before the capsuleers moved out here to stake their claim. Some of the largest capsuleer alliances now also owned stations built and run solely by them, but they were still relatively uncommon.

Nullsec was nowhere near as developed as the empires were yet, but they contained riches most capsuleers just couldn't pass up. Thousands of capsuleers had flocked to the outer rim over the years and formed corporations, alliances and coalitions. And out here, beyond the watch full eye of Concord, they fought for these resources unrestrained. Conflicts ranging from minor border disputes to full out wars over alliance sovereignty were raging all over the outer rim. Slowly but surely these wars were unifying the capsuleers into ever larger coalitions, but a quasi peace as the empires enjoyed was still far off. However as far as safety came he knew this system was as safe as you'd probably get in nullsec. VFK was the capital system for the Phoenix coalition, one of the larger alliances around at the moment. But nowhere out here was truly safe.

Phoenix was currently locked in a war with another coalition led by Ascension alliance looking to control the entire northern part of the rim. But the front line for that war was well over a region away and neither side had managed to gain the upper hand as of yet. As Lightning locked itself into the anti grav field of the hanger bay and the clamps released his pod he idly wondered what Lynn would want in exchange for her hospitality.

Kyra had been escorted off Lightning by Vesla and her group shortly after the docking process completed. Moving past a couple of crew who were loading various transport pads with equipment that needed repairs or simply offloading. The familiar look of the Gallente station almost made her forget she wasn't in Empire space anymore. The lack of any Gallente personnel and the owning alliances logo on the walls soon reminded her though. Vesla and Murat were being there talkative selves as they walked along the corridor to the shuttle hanger. Bantering back and forth about the convenience of jumpbridges, the use of cloaking devices and the occasional smacking on the head by Vesla when Murat said something he shouldn't have again. Kyra wasn't paying much attention though. She was being taken to see Lena and she knew she would not be so polite with her as Cyber had been. Her sister would want the answers she had promised her and Kyra was pretty sure Lena wouldn't like them.

When the talk turned to the connection Cyber had with Lex she started to actually listen though. She had been quite curious about the fleet commander that had saved them from the pirates at the entrance system and what his connection to Cyber was.

"As usual Lex shows up right when Cyber needs him again. They seem to have an odd way of always doing that to each other." Vesla ventured.

Murat was slightly less tightlipped. "Ha, that guy always pops up at either the right or the completely wrong time. Remember that one time he showed up and simply charged into that enemy gang in his Drake. Guy just suicided his ship in there to save Cyber's Zealot."

Vesla couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, he's certainly one crazy capsuleer. Then again Cyber did once say that he thought Lex a better pilot then himself and coming from Cyber that means something. Wonder what he's doing out here in nullsec though. Last time we ran into him he was a pirate in low security empire regions. "

"Hey, I'll just ask him when we see him. He's not as stuck up as some of these eggers out here."

For that Vesla jabbed him in the arm. "Hey your boss is one of these eggers."

Murat just snorted. "Ha, you know better than I do that Cyber is no normal capsuleer by a long shot. Besides I know there's plenty of good ones around. It's just that the rotten ones seem to outweigh them. "

"I suppose I can get behind that." At that Vesla stopped before a terminal in the transport hub and called up a shuttle. "Now hush about them though, this shuttle is taking us up to the capsuleer decks to meet Cyber and whatever company he has."

Kyra felt a lead ball form in her stomach again at the comment. How was she going to explain what she had done.

Captain Nouveau moved through the halls of the station to the transport hub that would take him to his newly commissioned ship like he was on autopilot. He was still stunned after his conversation back in the agents office, he never did catch his name. The agent had just sat there and calmly given him the details of his new assignment. The objective was the same, capture Dr Shift and bring her back to the Gallente federation dead or alive. Though alive was preferred, he had made it clear that they did consider dead a better option than free. In any case they really wanted Dr Shift back, that much was sure.

What did differ this time were his resources. They had given him a new task force and a new ship to lead it with. He would have never thought the Navy would willingly loan out assets like these to the Black Eagles nor that they themselves had these kinds of space based assets, but they did. In the end he was still unsure how this would end, but one thing he was sure about.

His chances were definitely a lot better than last time.

It was the one truly ethereal thing about being a capsuleer Cyber mused as he meticulously dressed himself. The time between being disconnected from your ship to the moment your pod opened up and you were out again. It only took a minute at most, but for that minute it was almost as if you had died permanently. You saw or heard nothing, all feeling of anything was gone. Like you never had any senses at all. That moment of silence was something unspoken of amongst capsuleers, like not acknowledging it would somehow not make it real. In truth he kind of relished those unspoken moments of silence, it put things in perspective and at the moment he could use a bit of perspective.

Cyber kept a fair amount of secrets, some were his, some were stolen, others he had been entrusted with and some he had simply stumbled upon. But very few could stack up against the secret that Dr Shift was carrying around. He had done some digging while en route to VFK and had surprisingly found nothing. No mention of the Gallente task force he had dismantled or any standard warrant for Dr Shift. Even details about her life before he had met her were scarce, only an official address and an employer, Duvolle Laboratories. There were no tax records or Concord registrations for spaceflights and no mention of any other activities. In essence she barely existed after she graduated, she was a ghost.

Cyber understood what this meant, she had worked on a classified government project. There was simply no other way her life could be this clean otherwise. But from what he could tell she had apparently not done so willingly and took an escape when she saw it. Depending on what she had actually worked on he was beginning to wonder how far they would go to get her back. He had assumed she would be safe out in null security space , but he was beginning to second guess that decision. At the least he had bought her time though, it would have to do.

"Over thinking things as usual are we."

Cyber couldn't help but let out a small smile as he looked over. Lena stood there leaning against the doorframe.

"I'm always thinking, you know that."

She laughs at that. "Very true, but normally it doesn't make you just stand there with your shirt halfway buttoned up."

Cyber looked down to find he was still holding his third button on the shirt and hadn't done it up yet.

"_Huh, imagine that."_

He quickly finished buttoning up as Lena handed him his jacket. Putting it on he turned to the mirror to make sure the suit fit nicely.

"I swear you and your suits. Ever thought about just wearing something casual."

"I like suits, there neat and work for pretty much every occasion."

Lena just laughed at his reaction. "And knowing you, it means you don't have to keep picking out new clothes. You always were a perfectionist."

He smiled again. "Meticulous planning has always had its advantages. Though I'm not sure even my planning can keep up with current events."

That got Lena serious again. "So that's what you were thinking about. You think it isn't over yet?"

He turned to face her. "You know as well as I do that this was always just a temporary situation. As safe as VFK is at the moment, war will always keep turning out here. Eventually we would need to move her again, unless we can resolve whatever it is there after her for."

He sat down on a nearby couch and let his eyes wonder around his new quarters. "But that wasn't what I meant. I keep having this nagging feeling that I underestimated the Gallenteans that are after her. I'm not so sure she's safe from them out here."

"Did she tell you why they were after her then?"

"No I never asked. She didn't tell me voluntarily and it's not my place, I'll leave that to you. It's just a hunch based on some digging I did while en route."

She sat down next to him on the couch and sighed. "This is way over my head Cyber. I'm good with numbers and blueprints, timetables and route optimization. But if you're right, I don't know what to do with this. I haven't been a capsuleer that long and rarely ventured outside of empire space."

Cyber turned to her, small smile still in place, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe so, but you were always good at picking the right people for the job and I do believe you made a good choice for this one, even if I do say so myself. "

He squeezed her shoulder a bit and then leant forward and focused back on the holographic map that was being displayed above the table in front of him. "For the moment we should be fine here and I'll get in contact with some people to find out anything more I can. In the mean time Vesla is bringing Dr Shift up here and you two can have a chat. Let me know if anything she says will affect my planning."

He sighed and slumped a bit in on the couch. "While you do that I'll talk to Lynn, I doubt her hospitality is free. She didn't make a problem out of it when I contacted her, but she is the head of this alliance. She always has an agenda, just like the rest of us I suppose. Shouldn't be too bad though, most likely just some intel."

Lena finally smiled a bit and sat up. "Did I ever say thank you for doing this."

Cyber looked at her and blinked slightly confused a few times. "Once as far as I can recall."

Lena fell into a fit of giggles at that, only managing to talk when a few seconds later. "Stop being so serious at everything, your ruining the good mood you managed to talk me into. But you will be you I suppose. You really need to learn to let go of that military training one of these days and lighten up."

She sat back up and turned to him again. "I do mean it though. Thanks for all of this. I owe you one hell of a favor."

Cyber just shrugged and kept looking at the 3d map displaying current war zones and known fleet movements. "Thank me when were done, we're definitely not out of it yet. I'll bet you a considerable amount ISK on it."

Just then door slid open. "Who's betting ISK on what?"

Lex and Lynn walked in. Lex smiling from ear to ear, Lynn slightly more intoned. Cyber couldn't help but smile as well, standing up to shake Lex's hand.

"Lex, you fool. What are you doing out here?"

Lex laughed back and returned in kind. "Saving your ass again it seems."

"When Lynn said she'd be sending an escort fleet I hadn't expected you to be in it, I thought you never left lowsec. Last time we talked you still claimed 0.0 to be nothing more than useless politics."

Lex looked a bit embarrassed at that and scratched the back of his head while responding. "Yeah well I still think that. It's just that little miss sunshine over here doesn't and made me pick between lowsec or her. And I must admit she's a lot better in bed then lowsec is, so here I am."

Lynn punched his arm for that as Cyber just raised one eyebrow and looked at both of them for a few times before settling his gaze on Lynn. "He's serious?"

Lynn for her part just looked back unflinching. "Oh don't give me that look. I know he's nuts, no one ever said love made sense."

Lex piped in again. "She's got you there mate. Besides well talk later, I'm pretty sure you didn't come here because you're curious about my love life."

Cyber for his part dropped it as he agreed, they had more pressing matters. He couldn't help but feel slightly happy for Lex though. Having come out to nullsec here just for her meant it was serious for him. Just goes to show that capsuleers were just people as well and Lex could definitely use the stability.

Refocusing on the task at hand he motioned towards another door. "You are right about that. This way please."

The door hissed open as they moved into the next room. It was slightly bigger with only two entrances and several booths where people could sit. Just at that moment the other door also slid open revealing Vesla and Murat with Dr Shift and the rest of the team trailing behind.

"Ah, right on schedule as always."

Vesla walked up to Cyber and gave a slight nod. "Dr Shift as requested."

"Good , we have a few things too discuss. No one is to enter this room until were done, understood?"

Vesla simply nodded again. "Understood. "

Vesla began snapping orders, military training kicking in easily. Murat and Skid took posts outside one door, while Leat and Arekh covered the other one. Cyber focused on Dr Shift who admittedly looked quite nervous. Lena had walked up to her and simply hugged her, Dr Shift on the other hand had remained perfectly still. She seemed to be leaning into her sister more as time passed, but it remained distanced somehow.

When Vesla was done barking orders she nodded at Cyber and turned to leave when he called her back.

"Not you Vesla, you need to know what goes on here."

Vesla just nodded and sat down in one of the booths.

Dr Shift for her part remained silent and looked as nervous as someone could be while being hugged. He could faintly hear Lena whisper something to her while they stood there. He had expected as much. In the end he didn't really care about what she had done. She had grown on him a bit after their shared shuttle ride, but in the end he was doing this because Lena had asked. As long as he got told enough to solve all this he didn't need to know.

First things first again though. "Dr Shift this is Lex and Lynn. Lex you heard before, he was the fc for the gang that escorted us here. Lynn on the other hand is the leader of this alliance and our host for the time being. You'll be safe here, for a while anyway, so we have time to come up with a more permanent solution."

He could see her tense up as his voice faded from the room. Odd, he would have expected at least some form of relaxation registering now that she was safe and reunited with her sister. She was returning Lena's hug by now, but her face registered more tension then relief at this. He had to admit to himself that he was becoming curious now as to what she was hiding. Still, not his place to ask he decided.

"But as I said, we have time. For now Lena was really looking forward to seeing you again. Take your time to talk a catch up. In the mean time I believe Lynn and I have some business to discuss."


	7. Reunion

**Diclaimer**: EVE Online is owned by CCP and I claim ownership of nothing except the storyline.

As i said before my version of eve will be less developed than the current game actually is. Mostly that will be visual here in the absence large supercapital fleets or even the amount of capsuleers in large fleets. Again sorry for the long delay in updating, but both a holiday and Mass Effect 3 got in the way. EVE is properly back in the picture again though, so is this story. As far as i can tell were maybe at the 30% mark here as i have a lot more idea on where to take the story. So bear with me.

As always i hope you enjoy the new chapter and any comments, reviews and tips are appreciated.

**Reunion**

Lena and Dr Shift had taken a seat in the booth in the furthest corner of the room and one of them had activated the sound bubble that each of the booths had fitted. For now Lena seemed to be doing most of the talking, though he wondered how long that would last. Dr Shift for her part seemed to have resigned herself to the inevitable and just sat slightly slouched on the couch. She was seated with her back towards him so he couldn't see her face. He briefly considered running the image of Lena talking through his neural processor to figure out what she was saying. Cross-referencing the meaning of her lip movements would be snap and he'd understand all she would say with barely a nanosecond delay. Before he'd even finished thinking that he decided against it. Not his place.

He focused back to his own booth where Lynn had just activated the 3d projection above the table and was displaying a galaxy map overlaid with tactical info on the current war. The map zoomed in on the Tribute region displaying more detailed information on fleet movements, staging points, supply routes and reinforced timers.

"At the moment the war is in a stalemate." Lynn started. "They outnumber us, but we have the home field advantage here and have made good use of our capital fleet under jammers to leverage most fights our way. "

"Jammers?" Vesla ventured.

Cyber quickly explained. "Cynosaural Jammers are a certain module that can be anchored at capsuleer owned towers. They prevent any cynosaural field from being lit in system making it impossible for anyone to bring in capital ships until the jammer is taken down. With the use of jump bridges and cycling the jammer at opportune moments friendly capitals can be brought in, but hostile ones kept out. Making the only viable entrance to the system for the hostile fleets the gates. Which can easily be set up to be killing grounds for hostile forces who would need to jump in at your optimal range, facing a fleet with capital support without any of their own."

Cyber gestured to Lynn to continue after Vesla nodded. "For now that's what we've been doing and its kept us in a stalemate. We simply don't have the numbers to counter attack into their space under the same conditions, so were restricted to a defensive war."

Lex leaned forward and picked up. "It's not all bad though. This war is slowly wearing them out. Both in material and morale. They have sustained significant sub capital and even capital losses and made very little progress to show for it. What worries us most is the possibility that they still slowly grind through Tribute before they wear out. Morale isn't exactly high here either as every knows were pulling a holding act. Slip up once and it's all over. That's where we were hoping you could help."

Lynn nodded, her look visibly hardening. "I don't know if you can actually do what I'm asking, but Lex assures me you have the resources needed to give us the edge. At the moment most of the fighting is clustered around H-W, which we still control, and D7-, which they have managed to take over. They are using IMK-K1 in Tribute as the jumping off point for their offensive, only a short trip from our forward base in UMI-KK. Were planning a major offensive to take that system. That would cripple their supply route to the front as well as their northern Tenal holdings and give us some breathing room in Tribute. But at the moment our chances of success aren't as high as I'd want."

"What she means to say is we'll get the crap beaten out of us without some advantage to leverage this on." Lex clarified, which earned him a glare from Lynn that he pointedly ignored.

Cyber studied the map for a moment and nodded. "Tenal will fall easily if you manage to secure Tribute, so I can understand why the fighting is all down here. What about their infrastructure? Jump bridges, cynosaural beacons, high value moons?"

"We have scouted out most of their jump bridges and cyno beacons as well as high value moons. There all quite well defended, so we can't really do anything to them without capital support or sustaining a large amount of losses. In the end it's just not worth the effort."

Now it was Cyber's turn to look up from the map and glare at her. "Wrong, disrupting their infrastructure is THE way to win this. Lex you have spent your entire career as a capsuleer fighting outnumbered, you should know this well enough."

Lex sighed and ran a hand through his black shoulder length hair. "I'm not even going there. I'm a good pilot Cyber, even if I do say so myself, but I also recognize my own limits. Tactically I'm good, leading a fleet is no problem, but strategy is a whole other ball game. You know I always sucked at long term planning and this is no different. Me and Lynn both thought this plan was our best shot, but I know you well enough not to dismiss any crazy plan you come up with. So let's hear it."

Cyber glared slightly at Lex for the crazy remark, but focused on Lynn again. "Your thinking too much in terms your enemy wants you to think. They have the advantage on an even playing field, more numbers in both capitals and sub capitals and a better ability to replenish both if you add in the industry base their allies have in Geminate. I won't comment on morale, as I have insufficient information on that. What is the possibility super capital deployment?"

Lynn quickly answered that. "As far as we have been able to discern they have two Titan class vessels at their disposal and an additional five super carriers. Both Titans are used solely for their mobile jump bridges. We have only one Titan, used for the same purpose, and three additional super carriers. So far both sides have refrained from using them on the field, as the outcome of each battle remains too uncertain. The loss of any super capital asset is something neither side can afford at this point."

Cyber didn't even bother to look up and just nodded in acknowledgment. "I'll see what I can do on obtaining a fully accurate jump bridge map from Ascension, maybe even get a few passwords as well. Though that would just be a bonus. Hold off your strike against IMK for now, all it would do is rally your enemy against you. Focus on cutting there supply lines and disrupting logistics. Your allowing them to freely resupply and get rest in their home in Vale of the Silent…."

Lynn was getting angry now and stood up as she cut in. "I know, but we don't have strength to fight them there at the moment. They would crush any fleet that moves to contest towers or stations there and leave us vulnerable in Tribute."

Cyber looked up to meet her eyes. "Who said anything about a fleet?"

Lex put a hand on Lynn's shoulder and slowly pushed her down on her seat again. "I think I know what you're getting at Cyber. Keep the standard war stalemate and have a small fleet dedicated to disrupting as much of their normal operations as possible. It will take us time to set a group up for that and for them to become effective though, by that time it may be too late."

Cyber nods again. "I know. However at this point I have as much interest in winning this war as you do, so I've taken the liberty of sorting that out. My ehm…. 'associates' are already on the move towards Nalvula. We will stage from there and disrupt what we can."

Vesla looked surprised at that. "You're dragging the rest of your corp into this as well?"

Cyber looked over to her and gave a noncommittal blink. "Well I am the CEO."

Lex just laughed. "Man it will be good to see them around again."

Lynn looked more serious. "I won't complain but that's more of a favor then you owe me."

Cyber nodded and looked back to her. "If it works you'll owe me one. At the moment there available, best suited for the job and knowing them they'll probably enjoy it quite a bit."

Lex chuckled again. "Enjoy it. They'll have a blast!"

Cyber pointedly ignored Lex and just kept talking to Lynn. "Were a small outfit and technically no one is obliged to come, but I'm quite certain they all will. Which will mean around 30 capsuleers to lock down a region. Shouldn't be too much trouble. I'll relay any intel we find on fleet movements and form ups. If you in turn keep me posted about any reinforcement timers we will do what we can."

Now it was Lynn's turn to nod. "Ok, I just hope you can do what you claim you can. They will start camping gates and systems you're in quickly."

Cyber just gave her another non committal blink. "We'll take care of it."

"OK, I'll relay all this to the rest of high command. We were planned to have a meeting this evening anyway. Lex if you…"

Cyber blocked the chatter out of his mind after that and refocused his attention. His sensors had picked up a vibration through the floor that didn't belong there. Just one tremor, small enough not to be noticed by the rest. At the other booth Lena had stood up and smashed both her hands into the table.

"_Well that would be the tremor."_

Tears were in her eyes and he instinctively started reading her lips. "You did what?" She was shouting, still no sounds penetrated the sound bubble, but by the looks of it she was doing so loudly. "How could you work on something like that!"

Dr Shift reached out to calm Lena down, but to no avail. She shrugged off the hand and continued on. "Your own sisters are capsuleers and still you went along with it!"

Vesla nudged him at that point to get him refocused on the conversation at hand. Lynn had started talking to him again. "We'll need to get standings sorted out, just in case and I'll get you access to our jump bridge network."

Cyber nodded and linked into the network to update corporate standings to the list of allies Lynn had uploaded. "Done."

"Good, same here. I'll let you know if anything relevant for you comes up in the meeting tonight. For now that's all. We'll be in contact when needed."

Cyber just nodded and focused back to the conversation between Lena and Dr Shift. Lena seemed calmer, at least she sat down again. She looked defeated somehow, on the verge of crying even. "I… I need some time…."

Dr Shift said something again judging by her movements. Lena just shook her head. "No, I… I need to think on this."

She stood up and started walking away, but as she passed Dr Shift she put her hand on her shoulder and spoke. "It's still good to see you though."

At that she walked straight out the door, not even acknowledging anyone else. Cyber sat there for a second as he heard the door hiss closed behind him. Lex and Lynn had already moved out as well, eager to work out a new planning with the rest of their leaders. Only Vesla still sat next to him and Dr Shift sat, head bowed, at the table her sister just walked away from. Wirelessly he linked to Lena sending her nothing but a question mark. The only response was: "You were right." Then she cut the link just as quickly.

Cyber got the hint, she wanted to be alone. She was a capsuleer, it wouldn't take her long to work through this. Dr shift was no capsuleer though. "Vesla, take the squad to their quarters and get some rest." He stood up and looked down at here. "For unless I miss my guess, you'll have work again soon."

Vesla saw the serious look in his face and just nodded as she stood u as well. Talking softly into her communicator she walked out the door as Cyber approached Dr Shift. She still sat there staring at table in front of her. Inwardly he sighed, he had never been good at this. However somehow he figured he should care. He walked up to her and just stood next to her in silence. After a few quiet moments she look up at him, her face betraying more sorrow. It reminded him of Vesla so long ago, before she had escaped the Amarr Navy.

"_She's probably hungry."_

Odd thought, but he could not find anything better to start with. "Come on, let's get you something to eat."

She looked surprised at that, but he didn't wait for a response and started walking towards the door. He heard her get up and walk hastily after him. As he walked into the nearest transfer pod he idly wondered why with all the new problems to solve with both the Gallenteans and the new capsuleer war he had gotten sucked into, his main concern seemed to be what she would like for dinner.

The transfer pod was the equivalent of an elevator except it also went sideways and came with seats. She had read about them, but never actually been in one. They were used only in smaller stations and even then access was limited to the elite, which of course included the capsuleers. So far the ride had been quiet. The prevailing direction seemed to be down and she idly wondered where they were going and what he would ask when they got there. That thought got her down again. Her sister hadn't reacted that well to her news, not that she had expected her too, but still it hurt somehow.

She figured he would want some answers as well. Admittedly he did deserve them, after all he had saved her life. She just wished he would ask so she could get it over with. For now he just sat there, eyes closed and arms crossed. You could almost think he was asleep if it weren't for the fact he was sitting up straight and didn't sway or move in the least every time the pod changed direction. She knew having that conversation again would leave her a wreck. On top of that she had no idea how Cyber would react. With Lena she knew at least somewhat to expect, but she didn't really know Cyber all that well now that she thought about it. He didn't seem like someone who got mad easily, but this might just do it and something told her she wouldn't want to see Cyber mad. Perhaps it would be better….

"What would you like for dinner?" Cyber interrupted her chain of thought.

That sort of threw her off. "I don't know." She answered hastily. "I mean whatever you want. What can we actually get?"

He opened his eyes to look at her. "Calm down. I asked about dinner, nothing else."

She took a deep breath and tried get her thoughts in order again. Somehow they wouldn't stay on food.

"Aren't you going to ask what me and Lena were talking about?"

He just gave her a noncommittal blink. "Do you want to tell me?"

She looked away from those piercing eyes as he said that. She had to admit to herself that she didn't, she just wanted to go home. But that wasn't an option anymore. She also didn't want to anger Cyber, so far he had been nice to her. Not overly friendly, but nice. For now she liked that, admittedly even needed that.

She just shook her head and refused to meet his eyes

"Then no, I'm not going to ask."

Somehow that didn't surprise her, but it did worry her.

She sighed. "You have a right to know."

He tilted his head sideways slightly as he looked at her. "No I don't."

She looked up at him before he continued. "Come on, I made reservations."

On queue the pod stopped and the doors slid open as Cyber got up and started walking.

"_How the hell does he always do that."_

She looked around as they walked along. They were down on the lower levels where all the normal dock workers, repair crews and science employees lived. The plaza they were currently walking across was busy with people moving around there everyday lives. Eating, chatting or just walking around. Cyber himself was drawing some attention simply by being here, but people mostly ignored her. She wondered why he had come down here. Surely he had access to much better restaurants on the capsuleer only decks.

Cyber for his part walked in a straight line across the plaza towards his apparent goal. A crowded but cozy looking Gallente café. As they came to the entrance the waiter smiled and showed them to their table. As they sat down he handed her a menu and quickly moved off to get the complementary garlic bread. Oddly she saw that Cyber didn't get a menu.

"Have you been here before?"

Cyber calmly nodded his head. "No, it seemed nice enough though. They also serve the best Jeroille fish platter on this station."

"_How the hell did he know that!"_

She just sat there staring at him for a second as the waiter came and went with the bread and he looked out over the terrace view. He finally turned back and gave her a noncommittal blink.

"Is something wrong?"

"How in god's name did you know I liked Jeroille fish?"

He blinked once more before answering. "It's your most ordered dish of all times according to your restaurant history. So it seemed like the most accurate guess."

Her head hit the table at that comment. "I don't even want to know how you found that out."

"Egonics keeps a surprising amount…" He answered anyway.

"I said I didn't want to know."

For a moment she just laid there, head on the wooden table, and the whole situation just seemed idiotic to her. She was having dinner with the capsuleer that saved her life in a normal restaurant as if the Gallente Navy wasn't hunting her on a station in some unlawful place in nullsec and he had just figured out what her favorite food was.

"Would you like me to order you a pillow?"

She looked up at Cyber only to see a straight face and serious blue eyes as usual. He was actually serious and then something just snapped. For the first time in a long time she laughed, uncontrolled and free, she laughed. She felt the stress and nervousness leave her and she became more at ease the longer she laughed.

After a while she pulled herself together enough to thank Cyber. "Thanks, I really needed that."

She heard Cyber mumble under his breath. "Wasn't meant to be funny." But he gave her a small smile all the same.

"Well for now at least lets order, I'm hungry."

Cyber cleared his throat before answering. "I already did."

"_Crud."_

This was going to be one interesting dinner.

Terric Karaka was not a happy man right now.

The Executor of Ascension alliance was a tall Civire, with neatly combed brown hair and dressed crisply in a grey suit. He was currently walking back to his office after a meeting with his leadership team about there recently failed attempt to take H-W once more. The Phoenix Coalition was holding out far better than any of there earlier scenarios had predicted. Progress had been slow, too slow. If something didn't change fast this war would stop within a month simply because the alliance would run out of funds to sustain these kinds of losses. Capsuleers were rich yes, but war with other capsuleers was costly to the extreme.

He grunted as he passed his secretaries desk and moved into his luxurious office. The hiss of the door as it closed behind him barely registered. Not only this war was on the line, from now on his position as well. The board had ruled this wars failures his doing and his position as executor of this alliance rested on the outcome of this war. Failure was no longer an option, but he couldn't see any other way forward. They had been hitting Phoenix relentlessly for over three months now and had only managed to secure 3 station systems and maybe a third of Tribute as a whole. He had the numbers advantage in both sub capitals as well as capitals, but due to their use of jammer he couldn't leverage them both and his sub capital fleets alone were not enough against phoenix's combined fleets.

He sat down at his desk and 3d screens popped up showing the latest war information, financial projections and alliance ship movements. He was just about to decide to just sleep on it when his secretary came over the comm.

"Sir, I have a incoming vid call for you."

"Who is it?" he grunted.

"I'm not sure sir. He's refused to tell me who he is, only that its important. However he looks as if he's from the Gallente Navy."

"_The Gallente Navy, what could they want with me?"_

"Very well, patch him through."

The main screen blinked to a man seemingly in his late forties, sharply dressed in a Gallente Navy captains uniform. The background was the standard metallic green you found on every Gallente ship and station. He simply stared at the man and waited for him to speak first.

"Mister Karaka, pleased to meet you."

"You seem to have me at a disadvantage Mister…."

"Nouveau, captain Nouveau."

"How can I be of service captain?"

"You seem to be having some trouble with your war against the Phoenix coalition as of late is it not?"

Karaka's look darkened. "What's that to the Gallente Navy?"

The captain smiled and continued on. "I think we can help each other out in a certain matter Mister Karaka. I'm sending you an encrypted data package. I suggest you look through it to see what we can offer you."

Karaka simply nodded as he received the package.

"We will be in touch again soon."

At that the screen went dark and Terric focused his attention on the data package. After only a few minutes he leaned back into his chair, smiling. His chances of staying executor has just vastly improved.


End file.
